Mining our Political Past for Spiritual Sustenance
A few weeks ago, I completed my final assignment from my third semester of rabbinical school (which ended in January). I’m not one to put things off like that, but this was a special assignment. It involved sitting in a Brooklyn apartment with close to twenty young Jews (and maybe a couple non-Jews?) studying the [...]
Shabbat Shira and the Power of a Nigun
In addition to being Tu Bishvat—The New Year for the Trees, a minor holiday which has been increasing in significance due to its environmental and Kabbalistic themes, this past Shabbat happened also to be Shabbat Shira or the Shabbat of Song. Shabbat Shira is one of several Shabbatot throughout the year with special names which [...]
How Do You #Keep the Sabbath?
–”The Pharisees said, This man is not from #God, because He does not keep the #Sabbath” -#John 9:16 It was a Sunday morning in April when a man named Tagg uploaded a picture of his father onto Twitter. “Busted!” the tweet read. “#mitt2012 sneaking a peek at twitter [sic] during Sunday school.” The attached image displayed a [...]
The World to Come
Shabbat is not only the way we as Jews sustain ourselves, it is how anyone dissatisfied with the world as it is visions and creates the world as they imagine it should be. In the fallout from the tragic Sikh Temple shooting, our attention has been drawn to the culture and practices of the neo-Nazi skinhead groups that the shooter belonged to.I may not be able to change the orientation of these hate groups or affect their vision of paradise. But I can use their vision and mission as a means to examine my own idea of the world to come.
Rabbi (or) Da-da
The Shabbat before last was undoubtedly the best day my daughter Tina and I have spent together since I started my first job as a rabbi a few weeks ago. Saturday morning we took a walk together—Tina, who is almost two, watched older children and I watched Tina. Then we bounced up and down on [...]
Contributing Scholars
Casey SigmonCasey is first year Ph.D student in Homiletics and Liturgics and fellow in The Program in Theology and Practice at Vanderbilt. She is an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). She lives in Nashville with her husband, two cats and twenty Divinity school students at the Disciples Divinity House.
Rebecca LeviReligious Studies grad student. Amateur cartoonist and cook, even more amateur violinist and science nerd. All-around kvetch.
Charlotte DandoCharlotte is an interfaith activist and self-confessed Religious Studies geek currently undertaking a Masters at SOAS, University of London. Charlotte’s interests include religious diversity, pluralism, multiculturalism, Quakerism, equality and blogging: all fueled by oolong tea. @CharlotteDando